The invention relates to a dispenser for liquid or viscous soap and of the kind that comprises a disposable soap container having a discharge end mainly at the bottom in the state of use and a feed pump for pumping a dose of soap out of the discharge end, a housing for receiving the soap container via a front aperture in the housing, and a cover for closing the front aperture of the housing.
A very widespread soap dispenser is arranged with a reservoir for refilling with soap from a larger soap container. In publicly accessible bathrooms and/or lavatories in, e.g., hotels or restaurants, such a dispenser is usually mounted on a wall. Therefore, the dispenser is not very accessible to the staff who are responsible for checking the soap content of the reservoir and refilling it with new soap when necessary. Therefore, attending to these known soap dispensers is rather difficult and time-consuming for an often busy staff. Furthermore, refilling of the reservoir easily results in soap running down the sides of the dispenser, requiring that these sides must then laboriously be washed off so as not be left in an unacceptable greasy and unhygienic state.
Another problem of these known soap dispensers is that their design is rather complex and therefore expensive, and that they comprise a large number of components which are subjected to wear and tear which inevitably will require regular maintenance.
When the soap dispenser is of the kind that has a fixed, built-in valve, this valve will eventually furthermore not be able to function effectively as it gradually blocks up with soap and/or becomes leaky so that the soap will leak out of the soap reservoir.
With a view to solve the above problems, dispensers have been developed with replaceable disposable containers which are provided with each their valve. Such a dispenser is known from, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,806,717. In this case, the valve of the dispenser is now replaced at the same time as the disposable container. Thereby, the problem with the gradual wear of the valve is effectively solved. The soap supply of the dispenser can furthermore be restored quickly and easily even by untrained staff and without subsequently having to spend time and energy on cleaning the dispenser.
Common to the two types of dispensers is that they have a relatively small, compact feed pump which is activated by pressing on, e.g. with a finger, a correspondingly small activation location which however is difficult to see due to its modest size and especially to persons having impaired sight. Furthermore, the activation requires a concentrated, relatively great application of force which many have to exert a strong effort to do. This is a serious problem especially to persons having weak fingers.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved soap dispensers that do not possess the disadvantages of the prior art. The present invention now provides such improved dispensers.
The present invention provides a dispenser which has a simple, inexpensive design and no components that gradually would become ineffective and unhygienic through wear. In addition, the soap content of the dispenser can be restored easily and quickly without in this connection having to clean the dispenser. Furthermore, refilling of the dispenser is easily activated even by persons having weak hands and fingers and/or impaired sight.
The novel and unique features of the invention, whereby this is achieved, are obtained by providing a cover that is pivotally mounted about a mainly horizontal swing axis extending across an upper edge in the front aperture of the housing, when viewed in the mounted state of the housing. This cover is designed to swing between a first swing position, in which the front aperture is clear, a second swing position, in which the front aperture is covered and the cover is in contact with the pump, and a third swing position, in which the cover has activated the feed pump under the influence of an external force.
By means of this design, not only does the cover close the front aperture in its second swing position, which is the rest position of the dispenser, to impart to the dispenser an aesthetically beautiful and attractive design, but it also advantageously functions as an activator to the soap pump of the dispenser. The large, outwardly facing face of the cover can be pressed by means of, e.g., a hand, arm or elbow when the pump is to be activated. Therefore, the activation of the dispenser can easily be done by joints that are much stronger than a finger. The dispenser according to the invention is therefore easy and convenient to operate to all and especially persons having weak fingers and/or impaired sight.
The dispenser according to the invention is based on the use of disposable containers, i.e., containers that are discarded when they are empty and that are replaced each time by a new, full container of liquid soap. These disposable containers are each provided with a valve, so that the dispenser will always be able to function effectively and hygienically as far as this component is concerned. Furthermore, the soap supply can be restored quickly and easily without having to spend time and energy on subsequent cleaning of the dispenser.
When it is the soap container itself that functions as feed pump, an especially simple solution is obtained. This is due to the fact that the cover by e.g. manually being pressed from its second to its third swing position, easily can be compressed a little by a modest application of force so that a dose of soap is displaced from the container to run out of the discharge end. Furthermore, the simultaneous disappearance of a separate feed pump advantageously results in fewer expensive components being used to construct the dispenser.
By designing the soap container with an outwardly curved area extending at least partly out of the front aperture of the housing in the mounted position of the container and letting the cover be in contact with exactly this area in its second swing position, it is obtained that the compression of the soap container is localized to this outwardly curved area. Thereby, the advantage is obtained in that the soap can be dosed with great accuracy. It is to be noted that the outwardly curved area can be extending across the entire exterior of the soap container or a considerable part of this exterior in an advantageous embodiment.
When the cover in a vertical cross section, i.e. in a cross section perpendicular to the swing axis of the cover, is bending in the opposite direction of the outwardly curved area on the front of the soap container, seen in the second swing position of the cover, the cover will be pressing against the outwardly curved area of the soap container with a relatively small area during the activation of the pump. This means that only a modest, manual application of force is required to dose a portion of soap.
By furthermore letting at least a part of the cover extend mainly linearly, seen in horizontal cross section, the additional advantage is obtained in that the cover will present an even and expedient contact face to the manual action which is required to activate the dispenser. For this purpose, a person can therefore conveniently use e.g. a hand, arm or elbow as desired.
When the soap container is made of an elastic plastic having memory of the original shape of the container, the container will advantageously return to its original shape after each dosing operation.
When the soap container is designed as soap pump, a nonreturn valve for opening on both positive pressure and negative pressure in the soap container can advantageously be fitted in the discharge end of the soap pump. The nonreturn valve ensures against soap unintentionally running out of the soap container in the rest position of the dispenser.
If the cover now is guided from its second to its third swing position, the pressure in the soap container will increase, the result of which is that the nonreturn valve is opened for dosing of a dose of soap. When the load is removed from the cover, the container will straighten again due to the inherent memory of the elastic plastic. In the soap container, a negative pressure is generated so that air is let into the container to fill the just generated negative pressure. The soap container is now ready for the next dosing operation.
When each disposable soap container has been provided with separate nonreturn valve in advance, the considerable advantage is obtained in that the dispenser is always functioning with a hygienic and effectively functioning nonreturn valve as this is replaced automatically at the same time as an empty soap container is replaced by a full one.
By providing the soap container with a mainly rectangular shape, as seen in a horizontal cross section, it is advantageously obtained that the soap container with a limited spatial requirement can contain a relatively large amount of soap. Another advantage is that the deformation of the soap container upon dispensing of a dose of soap is, to a considerable extent, concentrated to the outwardly curved area of the soap container whereby accurate dosing of the soap is ensured.
When the housing inside has a guide for keeping the soap container in place, it is ensured that the soap container is kept effectively in place in the housing without actual support by the cover which therefore advantageously is allowed to freely be able to function as activator to the pump.
At each of two opposite sides, the dispenser housing can be provided with a projecting flange extending mainly perpendicular to the swing axis of the cover in the longitudinal direction and serving to strengthen the housing in the area around the front aperture of the housing.
To give the dispenser a beautiful and harmonic overall impression, the cover can furthermore have a breadth corresponding to the distance between the outer edges of these flanges so that the cover will cover the entire front of the housing.